Lohse was good for the Cardinals when he was healthy. Once he got his forearm issue under control, he became a valuable asset to the team. He had a successful 2012 going 16-3 and leading the National League in win percentage.

He was in the best position of his career to go into free agency. Thanks to the changes to draft pick compensation for free agents, however, no one seems willing to take a gamble on him.

Should the Cardinals attempt to sign Kyle Lohse?

Should the Cardinals attempt to sign Kyle Lohse?

Yes

No

Besides, with Carpenter going on the DL as opposed to retiring, they will have to continue paying him this season. Losing Carpenter is not going to create any payroll flexibility.

Signing an additional big league pitcher would mean increasing their payroll beyond its current limits.

Third, the Cardinals are comfortable with the options they have and, in all reality, may not need Lohse.

Between Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller, Trevor Rosenthal and Joe Kelly, Jr., there is a strong crop of future pitchers ready to take to the mound in 2013. In an effort to make the best of a bad situation, the Cardinals have an opportunity to push their youth to the forefront this year and build toward their future.

Last, but not least, the Cardinals gain a draft pick if Lohse signs elsewhere. If they sign him, they forfeit that pick.

With so many young arms making the move now to the big league team, they will be looking to add more new talent to the farm system. With one of the most stacked minor league systems in MLB, there is little doubt they would like to keep that reputation.

Throwing away high draft picks is not the way to do that.

There is still one x-factor in play that could affect how the Cardinals view Lohse: Jaime Garcia.

In the event that there is a problem with Garcia, that would leave the Cardinals with two veterans in their rotation: Adam Wainwright and Jake Westbrook. That is not the ideal scenario.

That is the only scenario where I can see the Cardinals making a move for Lohse.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak has shown that he is quite savvy when it comes to juggling the roster and dealing players, so there is little reason to doubt that the Cardinals will manage to work around this loss as they have many before it.